Day 5

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

1

Much of this novel has been framed as a struggle for power. Who wins?

(10 min)

Students are unlikely to feel that the Big Nurse has won, even though she was able to bring McMurphy himself down—she was unable to stop him from empowering the other patients. McMurphy himself might be viewed as both winning and losing, since he sacrificed himself (though students may differ on whether he intended to do so) to bring the other patients liberation. In the end, the winner might be the patients, like Harding and Chief Bromden, though their triumph certainly came at a cost.